Device for differentiating and indicating the relative occurrences of a sequence of events



y 1940. L. M. PRINCE. JR 2,395,327

DEVICE FOR DIFFERENTIATING AND INDICATING THE RELATIVE OCCURRENCES OF A SEQUENCE OF" EVENTS Filed Jan. 25, 1936 INVENTOR.

' A TTORNEY Patented July 2, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DEVICE FOR DIFFERENTIATING AND 1N- DICA'IING THE RELATIVE OCCURRENCES OF A SEQUENCE OF EVENTS Leon M. Prince, Jr., New York, N. Y.

Application January 25,- 1936, Serial No. 60,852

9 Claims. (Cl. 177311) This invention relates to a device for differenof the lamps I, 2 and 3 light upon the arrival of tiating and indicating the relative occurrences the fourth and last contestant in the lane A at of a sequence of events. 4 the finish line. The lamps that are lighted re- It is an object of the invention to provide a main lit until the device is reset. device which will difierentiate in point of time In the event that the contestants in lanes B 5 or distance the relative occurrences of a sequence and C, for instance, afrive simultaneously at the of events and, having differentiated, will indicate finish line, the lamps 4, 5 and 6, and the lamps the occurrences of the diiierentiated events. I, '8 and 9, simultaneously light (indicating a In the drawing, I have illustrated the device tie). Upon the subsequent arrival of the conlO diagrammatically. testant in the lane D at the finish line, only the For the sake of illustrating the principle of lamp [2 lights and upon the subsequent arrival the invention, I have chosen to apply it to a of the contestant in lane A at the finish line, the device for difierentiating and indicating the arlamps I, 2 and 3 remain unlighted. rival of contestant swimmers at the finish line. Should the contestants in lanes B, C and D It is, however, to be understood that this emsimultaneously arrive at the finish line,the lamps 15 bodiment is merely chosen for the sake of illus- 4, 5, 8, l, 8, 9, III, II and I2 simultaneously light tration as the invention is applicable to other (indicating a triple tie) and upon the subsequent practical uses, as will appear as the description arrivaL of the contestant in lane A at the-finish of the invention progresses. line, the lamps I, 2 and 3 remain unlighted.

The embodiment illustrated in the rawin n- Should the contestants in all four of the lanes 20 y eludes four Series 01 Sets o a ps w i are 1 simultaneously arrive at the finish line, all of erated to indicate the arrival of four swimmers th lamps will light, (thus indicating a four-way at the finish line. It is to be understood, howt ever, that, even in this application of the inven- This Sequence f events is merely t.f rth tion, the differentiation and indication is not for sake of exan ple is of course to limited to four swimmers, as the principle of the be understood that the lamps operate in a 5mm device m be carried out n more or less than lar manner in other combinations of arrivals. foul swl mmers are CQntEStmg- The operation of the lamp I is controlled by Describing now this particular application of the gas Triode of the Thyratron type the the invention, the lamps of the first series or set lamp 2 by the Triede the i 3 the are indicated by the reference numerals l, 2 and Triode the lamp 4 by the Triode the 3, the lamps of the second series by the reference lamp 5 by Triode the lamp 5 the numerals 4, 5 and 6, the lamps of the third series Triode the 1am 1 b Triode G 7 the by the reference numerals l, 8 and 8, and the p y 5 lamps of the fourth series by the reference nulamp 8 by the Triode the lamp 9 by the Triode G--9,' the lamp in by the Triode H--I0,

merals in, H and I2. These lamps may be conveniently mounted on a support such as a panel. the lamp H by the Tnode Hui and the lamp I have illustrated the lamps as of the incana s Tngde Alpredetermmed p051 descent type, but it is to be understood that other ve p0 entla app to the anode of 40 types of lamps may be used as will later appear. each Triode from some suitable D. C. source, 40

These series or sets of lamps in this applicasuch for example as a pteniimeter tion of the invention correspond with the four acted across 1 Supply hne the swimming lanes which are indicated by the letanodes of the TndeSE'LF 4, G7 and Hi tars A, B, C and Assuming that the com being connected through a line l4 and a sw tch testant in'lane B arrives first at the finish line, to a Point 45 on potentiometer. the anodes 45 the contestant in lane 0 arrives second at the of the Triodes (3-8, finish line, the contestant in lane D arrives third and through a line and a at the finish line, and the contestant in lane A Switch to a point 45 011 DOtentiometer 3, arrives fourth at the finish line, the lamps 4, 5 the cathOdeS 0f the od G--- and 6 light upon the arrival of the first cond l being connected thr a ne 4 50 testant in lane B at the finish line, the lamps to a point ll on potentiometer 18, the cathode of 8 and 9 light upon the arrival of the second conthe Triodes E-2, F-5, G-8 and H-ll being testant in lane C at the finish line, the lamp l2 connected through a line 2| to a point 20 on lights upon the arrival of the third contestant potentiometer d e od 0 t e riin the lane D at the finish line, whereas none odes E-3, F-S, G9 and H-l2 being con- 55 nected through a line 23 to a point 22 on potentiometer l8.

Each gas Triode is controlled by the potential difference between the grid and cathode. This potential difierence is controlled by the following arrangement which I have chosen to term a primary differentiating circuit. This circuit consists of four gas Triodes I, J, K and L, identical with the Triodes previously described, having their loads split between the common resistance M in the anode lead and the individual resistances N-E, N-F, N-G and N-H in the cathode leads, (each of the resistances N-E, N-F, N-G and N-H being equal to the other), in such a way that the potentials of the points 24, 25, 26 and 21 vary with the number of these triodes which are operating. The anodes of each of the Triodes I, J, K and L are connected through a line 28, through the resistance M, to a fixed point 29 on the potentiometer !8, there being a manually operable switch 30 inserted in the line 28 between the resistance M and the potentiometer 18. The cathodes of the last-mentioned Triodes of the last-mentioned Triodes are connected through the resistances N-E, N-F, N-G and N-H and a bus line 3! to a point 48 near the negative end of potentiometer ill.

The grids of these Triodes I, J, K and L are each connected through resistances O and the secondary windings of transformers Q-E, Q-F, Q--G and 62-11, respectively to a line 32 which is connected through a grounded connection to the negative side of potentiometer l8. A suitable negative bias is thus supplied to the grids of these tubes.

The point 24 is connected directly to the grids of Triodes E-l, E-2 and E3 through resistances 34, the point 25 to the grids of Triodes F4, F 5 and F-6 through resistances 3d, the point 26 to the grids of Triodes G-i, 6-8 and G--9 through resistances 34" and the point 21 to the grids of Triodes H-ill, HI l and -12, through resistances 34".

Suitable fixed condensers V are connected from the grids of all of the Triodes to the grounded line 32.

One side of each of the primary windings of transformers Q-E, Q-F, Q-G, and Q-H, are connected through a line 3? to one side of a storage battery 36. The other side of the battery 36 is connected through a manually operable switch 35 to one side of a plurality of resistances R-E, R-F, Rr-G, and R-H, each respectively corresponding to one of the events whose occurrence is to be difierentiated, as, for example,

one corresponding to each lane in the swimming illustration mentioned above. The other terminals of each of these resistances RE, R-F. R-G, and Rr-H are connected respectively to the other primary terminals of each of the transformers Q-E, Q-F, Q-G, and Q-H. Shortcircuiting switches S-E, S-F, S-G, and 8-H are connected across resistances R-E, R-F, R-G, and R-H, respectively, and each is so arranged as to be operated to short-circuit its respective resistance upon the occurrence of one of the events. This short-circuit of a resistance produces a current surge in the primary winding of its associated transformer and thus produces a transient in the secondary which causes the Triode connected thereto to operate.

In the swimming device that I have chosen to illustrate the invention, one side of each of the resistors R-E, RrF, R,-G and Er -H takes the form of a stationary wire mesh screen, while the other side]; takes the form of a similar but movable screen, that is to say, one which will move toward the stationary screen. These two screens are partly submerged in the water and serve as the switches shown diagrammatically at S-E, S-F, S-'G and 5-H, so that the contact of one with the other will instantaneously cut out the resistance and will produce a transient in the corresponding transformer.

In the type of tube that I have described a heater is commonly used to initiate the flow of electrons from the cathode. These heaters are not connected as shown in the drawing, but their terminals X may be connected in any desired manner to, a suitable electrical power supply.

It is to be noted that in the present embodiment of my invention the resistors 35, 34', 34" and 34"" are all of the same value, each with the other, that the resistors O are all of the same value, each with the other, that the resistors R-E, Iii-F, R-G and RH are all of the same value, each with the other, that the resistors N--E, NF, N--G and N-H are all of the same value, each with the other, that the transformers Q-E, QF, Q-G and Q-H are all of the same value, each with the other, and that the condensers V are all of the same value, each with the other.

Describing now the operation and assuming the first set of conditions that heretofore has been referred to, namely, where the contestant in lane B arrives first at the finish line, the contestant in lane C arrives next at the finish line, the contestant in lane D arrives third at the finish line, and the contestant in lane A arrives last at the finish line, switch 8-3 is closed first and resistance RF is instantaneously shortcircuited when the contestant moves the movable wire mesh screen, to which reference has already been made, into contact with the stationary screen. This action creates a positive transient in transformer Q-F which raises the potential of the grid of Triode J to such a point that it loses control and the Triode is then in operation. As a result of this, the potential of point 25 is raised, for example, from a value of volts to a value of approximately +20 volts. Since the grids of all three Triodes F4l, F5 and F% are connected to point 25 and because of the potentials at which the cathodes of these tubes are maintained the grids of these three Triodes also lose control and the lamps 3, 5 and B are lighted, thus indicating the arrival of the contestant in lane B at the finish line. Upon the subsequent arrival, however, of the contestant in lane C at ance M, the potentials of the points 26 and 25 now assume a value of 10 volts because of the distribution of the current through the two resistances N-F and N-G. The reduction of the potential at point 26, however, does no longer affect the operation of Triodes F i, F-5 and F-B because once operated these Triodes can only be reset by opening the plate circuit. The grids of Triodes G-l, C--B and G--9, however, only get a potential of 10 volts and therefore the Triode G'l remains inoperative because the value of the grid potential with respect to the cathode potential is insufiicient to trip the Triode. This potential is high enough, though, to operate Triodes G--& and G-%l so that lamps 3 and 9 are lighted.

With the arrival of the contestant in lane D, at the finish line, and the short-circuiting of resistance 3-4-1, the potentials of points 27, 26

and 25 now assume a value of approximately 30 volts because of the distribution of the current between the three resistances N--F, N-G and.

\ N -H and in this case, the grids of Triodes H-lli,

H-ll and Hl2 get a potential of -30 volts. In this case, this potential is insuiiicient to trip Triodes H-IIJ and H-II and only the grid of H-l2 loses control, thereby lighting the lamp l2.

In a similar manner, when the contestant in lane A subsequently arrives at the finish line the potentials of points 24, 25, 25 and 21 now assume a value of approximately 42 volts and none of the grids of Triodes E-l, E-2 or 12-! get suflicient potential to lose control and lamps l, 2 and 3 remain unlighted. It will be observed that the optimum relation between M and any one of the resistances N-E', N--F, N-G or N--H in order to produce the maximum potential difference at any point 21, 25, 26 or 21 between the last and next to the last place to be diflerentiated, occurs when the relationship between M and any one of the resistances N-E, N-F, N--G or N--H is equal to the /4 3 in the illustrative case. In a generalcase, this would be equal to the vmfi l) where N is equal to the number oi contestants in the race. Thus, by following this formula and adjusting potentials in accordance therewith the device may be adapted to any number of contestants.

I have spoken of particular grid potentials at the points 24, 25, 26 and 21 and of particular cathode potentials in the Triodes which control the indicating lamps. Should the particular Triodes used have different characteristics, then, in that event, the potentials on the points 24, 25 and 25 must be accordingly adjusted.

In the event of two contestants arriving simultaneously at the finish line, all of the lamps which would light for each contestant will light for both, and then the potentials at any two points at, say, 25 and 25, would be instantaneous 1y reduced below the potential required to trip the corresponding Triodes in the other lanes for both positions so that, for example, the lamps indicating first place in both lanes would be lighted but no second place lamps would be lighted. However, a third place lamp would still light for third place, and so on.

It is pointed out that the storage battery is inserted in the circuit as described merely for the purpose of insuring safety when the device -is used to judge swimming events, or, in other words, to eliminate the possibility of accident because of the manual operation in the water of the resistances R-F, RG and R--H by the contestants.

The switch 35 is for the purpose of rendering the primary differentiating circuit inoperative when such a condition is desired.

The switches l5, l6, and 30 are supplied for the purpose of opening up the anode circuits of all the Triodes in order that the Triodes may be reset. In actual operation, I contemplate operating these three switches manually by a single operating means.

It is to be realized that the various values that have been described bear a certain relationship to each other, with, however, possible limited variations and that these values may be changed provided the changed values bear approximately that same relationship.

I have described the device for illustrative purposes as for use in connection with swimming contests but it may readily be seen that it is applicable to other uses where it is desired to dirtferentiate and indicate the relative occurrences of a sequence of events.

I claim:

" 1. Apparatus for determining the order of occurrence of a sequence of events, comprising, in

combination, a plurality of sets of electrical devices of the type adapted to be rendered operative by application of a predetermined control potential, the number of said sets corresponding to the number of events whose relative occurrence is to be determined, the number of devices in each of said sets being equal to the number of occurrences to be determined, the predetermined control potential necessary to render operative corresponding devices in each set being successivelylower from the first to the last device in each set, a circuit including a first impedance in series with a plurality of parallel connected impedances connected across a source of potential, the potential drop across each 01' said parallel connected impedances supplying the control potential. to one of said sets, and a control means associated with each of said parallel connected impedances for connecting each of said impedances in said circuit upon the occurrence of one of said events whereby the successive operation of each of said control means renders operative one less device in its set.

2. Apparatus for indicating the order of 0ccurrence of a sequence of events, comprising, in combination, a plurality of sets of Triodes of the type adapted to be rendered conductive by the application of a predetermined grid potential, means for supplying operating potentials to said Triodes, the anode potential supplied from said means to corresponding Triodes in each set being successively higher from the first Triode in each set to the last so that the predetermined grid potential necessary to render the Triodes conductive is successively less positive from the first device in each set to the last, a circuit including a first impedance in series with a plurality of parallel connected impedances, connected across a source of potential, the potential drop across each of said parallel connected impedances supplying a component of the grid potential to the Triodes of one of said sets. and a control means associated with each of said last mentioned impedances for connecting said impedances in said circuit upon the occurrence of one of said events.

3. Apparatus for indicating the order of occurrence of a sequence of events, comprising, in combination, a plurality of sets of Triodes of the type adapted to be made conductive by the application of a predetermined grid potential, the number of said sets corresponding to the number of events whose relative occurrence is to be determined, the number of Triodes in each of said sets being equal to the number of occurrences to be determined, means for supplying operating potentials to said Triodes, the anode potential supplied from said means to corresponding Triodes in each set being successively higher from the first Triode in each set to the last so that the predetermined grid potential necessary to render the Triodes conductive is successively less positive from the first device in each set to the last, a circuit including a first impedance in series with a plurality of parallel connected impedances connected across a source of D. C. potential, the potential drop across each of said parallel connected impedances supplying a component of the grid potential to each one of said sets, and a control means associated with each of said last mentioned impedances for connecting each of said impedances in said circuit upon the occurrence of one of said events.

4. Apparatus for determining the order of occurrence of a sequence -of events, comprising,

in combination, a first impedance in series with a plurality of parallel impedances connected across a source of electrical potential, control means associated with each of said parallel connected impedances for connecting each of said impedances in the circuit upon the occurrence of one of said events, and means connected across each of said parallel connected impedances for indicating the relative values of the voltage thereacross at the time they are connected in the circuit upon the occurrence of one of said events whereby their relative indications determine the order of occurrence of said events.

5. In combination, means for indicating the sequence of more than two occurrences comprising n groups of voltage-responsive elements each having a critical minimum operating potential characteristic, a source of electric potential, means actuated upon the first occurrence for effecting application of a potential having a value greater than said critical potential to a predetermined voltage-responsive element in each of said groups for operating said predetermined voltage-responsive element in each group upon said first occurrence, means actuated upon the second occurrence for effecting application of a voltage greater than said critical potential to a predetermined voltage-responsive element in (n-1) of said groups for. operating said second mentioned predetermined voltage-responsive element in the (n-1) of said groups upon said second occurrence, and means actuated upon the third occurrence for effecting application of a voltage greater than said critical potential to a predetermined voltage-responsive element in (1 2) of said groups for operating said third mentioned predetermined voltage-responsive element in the (11-2) of said groups.

6. In combination, means for indicating the sequence of more than two occurrences comprising at least one group of voltage-responsive elements having a critical minimum operating potential characteristic, a source of potential, impedance elements interposed between said source and said voltage-responsive elements to control the component of potential of said source impressed thereon to allow operation of only a predetermined number of said elements in each of said groups, more than one but less than all elements in at least one of said groups, and means actuated upon each occurrence for connecting said source to the associated voltageresponsive elements through said associated impedance elements.

'7 Apparatus for determining the order of occurrence of at least two of a sequence of more than two events occurring approximately simultaneously, comprising, in combination, a plurality of sets of electronic responsive means, the number of said sets corresponding to the number of said events, the number of responsive means in each of said sets being equal to the number'oi events of which the order of occurrence is to be determined, control means associated with each of said sets for starting the operation of the responsive means in said sets, each of said control means being operative upon the occurrence of one of said events, means interaaoasar connecting all of said control means, means associated with said control means operative upon the operation of a certain responsive means in any one of said sets to prevent the future operation of the corresponding responsive means in the remainder of said sets, and means associated with said control means operative upon the operation of certain responsive means in any two of said sets to prevent the future operation of the corresponding responsive means in the remainder of said sets, whereby the order of occurrence of the events associated with each of said sets is indicated by the particular responsive means operative in the sets.

8. Apparatus for determining the order of occurrence of at least two of a sequence of more than two events occurring approximately simultaneously, comprising, in combination, a plurality of sets of electrical devices, each of said devices being operative upon the application of a control potential of predetermined value, means for supplying operating potentials to said devices, control means associated with each of said sets operative upon the occurrence of one of said events and adapted to control the value of the control potential applied to each of the devices in each of said sets, means interconnecting all of said sets, and means including a resistor associated with each of said control means and operative upon the operation of more than one of said control means to affect the remaining non-operated sets to prevent the control potentials supplied to the devices in said nonoperated sets from reaching the predetermined operating value in more devices in said nonoperated sets than one less than the number of the devices in operation in said set last rendered operative by the operation of one of said control means.

9. Apparatus for determining the order of occurrence of at least two of a sequence of more than two events occurring approximately simultaneously, comprising, in combination, a plurality of sets of electronic indicating devices, the number of said sets corresponding to the number of events whose relative occurrence is to be determined, the number of devices in each of said sets being equal to the number of occurrences to be determined, each of said devices being operative upon the application of a control potential of predetermined value, means for supplying operating potentials to said devices, control means associated with each of said sets operative upon the occurrence of one of said events and adapted to control the value of a control potential applied to each of the devices in said set, means interconnecting all of said sets, and means associated with said control means operative upon the operation of certain of said devices in any two of said sets to affect the remaining non-operated sets to prevent the control potentials supplied to the devices in said non-operated sets from reaching the predetermined operating values in more devices in said non-operated sets than one less than the number of devices in operation in the last of said sets thus rendered operative by operation of said control means whereby the number of devices operative in each set is indicative of the order of occurrence of the event associated with that set.

LEON M. PRINCE, Jr. 

